BetterShaving.com offers the finest safety razors available. If you haven’t discovered the benefits of using these old fashion shaving supplies to learn the art of shaving, you will enjoy the straight razor closeness without razor bumps, ingrown hairs or razor burn. We offer Merkur razors, parker razors, shaving mugs, shaving bowls, derby razor blades, sahving soaprs, after shave and preshave oil. You will also find tutorials on how to use a safety razor.

On November 15, 1904, patent #775,134 was granted to King C. Gillette for a safety ‘razor’. King Camp Gillette was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin in 1855. To support himself when the family’s home was destroyed in the Chicago Fire of 1871, Gillette became a traveling salesman. This work led him to William Painter, the inventor of the disposable Crown Cork bottle cap, who assured Gillette that a successful invention was one that was purchased over and over again by satisfied customer.

In 1895, after several years of considering and rejecting possible inventions, Gillette suddenly had a brilliant idea while shaving one morning. It was an entirely new razor and blade that flashed in his mind—a razor with a safe, inexpensive, and disposable blade.

It took six years for Gillette’s idea to evolve. During that time, technical experts told Gillette that it would be impossible to produce steel that was hard, thin, and inexpensive enough for commercial development of the disposable razor blade. Then in 1901, MIT graduate William Nickerson agreed to try.

By 1903, he had succeeded. Production of the Gillette ® safety razor and blade began as the Gillette Safety Razor Company started operations in South Boston. Sales grew steadily. During World War I, the U.S. Government issued Gillette safety razors to the entire armed forces. By the end of the war, some 3.5 million razors and 32 million blades were put into military hands, thereby converting an entire nation to the Gillette safety razor.

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blrazor.htm

For years I had ingrown hairs. I went to the dermatologist, got antibiotics as well as other assorted medication to try and tame the problem. For a while, i just grew a beard not to have to deal with it. But in the end, it was really all caused by the razors. Since in the multi-blade razors, the first blade pulls the hair and then cuts, too much of the hair is under the skin, and sometimes, it can’t get out. Totally ridiculous. The old fashioned single blade Murker solved everything. I use a little oil to soften things up and then use a brush to lift the hair and one nice smooth fluid stroke and the beard is gone. After 3 months of doing this, I have not had a single ingrown hair. And the shave is as close as the multi-blade. I clean at the end with Tend Skin which i highly recommend.

Don’t fall for the marketing scam, try this way and you will definitely be happy.

Steve S.

AS A pre-teen, I wondered why my Dad’s double edge razor blades had that weird shape.  Was it simply an artistic design or was there some rational reason?  Other more interesting curiosities soon caught my attention and I forgot about the blade puzzle.  I discovered the answer only after I became addicted to safety razor collecting.  It turned out that the strange blade design was neither artistic nor rational. It was the outcome of a 1930 patent battle between the Gillette Company and an inventor named Henry J. Gaisman.

The story begins with the first 1904 Gillette patents that covered a safety razor and a unique double-edge throw-away blade that was so thin that it was flexible.

The 1906 Gillette blade looked like this:

The razor had a cap with a threaded stem and two studs that aligned with the three holes in the blade.  The illustration below is from a 1905 Gillette advertisement.  The threaded stem on the cap engaged the inner handle.  Rotating the end of the handle clamped the guard , the blade, and the cap together in a neat sandwich.  A slight twist of the handle could expose more or less of the blade edge as the cap sqeezed the flexible blade against the guard. The original 1903 three-hole blade design didn’t change for 25 years.  Then it went crazy.

In May 1921 Gillette introduced the NEW IMPROVED Gillette razor and blade.  When the original Gillette patents expired in November 1921, competitors were free to manufacture and sell blades that fit the nearly 15 million Gillette razors that had sold by then.  Gillette kept the original three-hole blade design, and launched a major advertising campaign that emphasized the superior quality of their blades over competitive imitations.

In 1928 Henry J. Gaisman founded the Probak Corp. as a division of his AutoStrop Safety Razor Co.  Probak started to manufacture razors and blades similar to Gillette’s.  Probak blades would work in both Probak and Gillette razors.  Probak razors, however, would notaccept Gillette blades. Instead of having round pins in the cap, the razors had a pair of depressions that accepted the variously shaped studs that were on the guard.  There were eight different guard designs with differently shaped studs.  In addition, the cap had corner blade-alignment pins that nested into depressions in the guard. The blade, in order to fit, had to have correctly placed openings to accept the protrusions and the corner pins.  A similar scheme had been used in the 1920s by Gaisman’s AutoStrop Company in a vain attempt to prevent competitors from making a blade that would fit the AutoStrop Valet single-edge razor.

Meanwhile (1929-1930), the Gillette Safety Razor Company was working on a similar razor and blade combination.  The old three-hole blades would not fit in the new NEW GILLETTE, but the new, patented, slotted blade would still work in all the old Gillette razors. The outcome was a patent fight that ended up with Gillette buying the AutoStrop Co.

Many creative cap and guard designs were made in the 1930s by Gillette and Probak (by then a division of Gillette). The Gillette variations were dubbed Goodwillrazors and they gave away 3 million of them free when you bought a $1 package of 10 New Gillette blades.  (See The Complete Gillette Collector’s Handbook, by Phillip L. Krumholz, pages 307, 402-404, and 234-240.)

Gillette Cap and Guard Designs

Gillette vs. Probak Timeline d> Dec. 1929

1928	April 1929	Nov. 1929	Mar 1930	May 1930	July 1930	Oct. 1930
Probak Company formed.	NEW GILLETTE patent filed (3-hole blade).	Probak blade Trademarks  filed.	Probak razor patent filed – includes slotted blade.	New Gillette Razor announced. Gillette slotted blade patent filed.	Revised Gaisman (Probak) patent filed.	NEW GILLETTE patent filed (slotted blade).	Merger of Gillette and AutoStrop.

Blade Evolution

The original.	Long slot and square, indented corners.	Added two transverse slots.	Added four transverse slots.	Added corner indents. One shape fits all.
1904-1928	1929	1931	1932	1933

Example Blade Packages
Dates determined from date code on blade

1904-05 3-hole (no date code)	1911               1921                1927 3-hole blades	1931 Long slot	1949             1953            1958           1959-60Blue Blades
WWII Camouflage Package	1938 Thin 1946 Thin		1958 Super Blue Sample 1967 Super Blue

The first blade wrapper was black and white and there was no inner wax-paper wrapper. The famous green package with King C. Gillette’s portrait first appeared in mid-1906 and subliminally reminded one of  U.S. currency. This “banknote” design lasted until the depression. The New Gillette blade had a long slot instead of three holes. The rust-resistant oxidized Blue Blade was introduced in April of 1932.  In the late ’30s the Thin Blade with a brown surface finish had a red wrapper that was missing the Gillette visage. The Super Blue blade came out in the late ’60s and KCG’s picture shrank to insignificance and then disappeared altogether. Around 1948 Blue Blades began to be packaged in double-ended plastic dispensers.  The blades were marked with arrows to indicate which way the blade was to be pushed to slide it from the dispenser. Blades that were sold in the traditional packages in the early 1950s  may or may not have had the arrows.  In the mid-60s competition from Wilkinson Sword of England forced Gillette to go stainless.

To learn how to determine the date of manufacture of Gillette blades click here.
Henry J. Gaisman vs. The Gillette Company

Business Week magazine of Nov. 26, 1930 described Henry Gaisman as “… of medium height, of benign mien.  He lives in a Park Avenue apartment in a state of contented batchelorhood.  … He has voiced doubts as to whether any woman could live with him.  The doubt applies to unconventional working habits and not to personal disposition.  If he gets an idea in the middle of the night there is no more sleep for him.  Like Gillette, Gaisman is an incurable inventor.  Also like Gillette, Gaisman possesses a quality notoriously lacking in most inventors– shrewd executive ability.”

The showdown between Gaisman and the Gillette Company came in 1930. The story is well told by Russell Adams in his book, King C. Gillette (Little, Brown, 1978) and in the pages of Business Week magazine during the fall of 1930, but it is worth summarizing here. In January of 1930, AutoStrop and Gaisman’s two-year old Probak Company had been granted a patent and trademarks on several razor blade slot designs.  One of which was identical to the New Gillette blades (marked PATENTS PENDING) that were introduced the next month.  AutoStrop threaten to sue and the Gillette Company charged that Gaisman had swiped their ideas.  By the end of the year Gaisman had marketed Probak razors and blades bearing three separate patent numbers. Probak was a made-up name ( inspired, perhaps, by Kodak? ), and reportedly was chosen by AutoStrop because it was likely to be pronounced the same in any language.

Top: Probak’s Trademark –
Jan. 7, 1930, filed Nov. 25, 1929. Bottom: Gillette’s Patent –
Aug. 5, 1930, filed Mar. 19, 1930.

Gillette decided that it would be easier to buy the AutoStrop Company rather than fight them in the courts.  Finally, in November of 1930, AutoStrop merged with Gillette. Henry Gaisman emerged as chairman of the board and “the new head man” of Gillette.  Business Week reported that during merger negotiations the question was asked why Gillette should pay $20 million for AutoStrop whose assets were only worth $9 million. The AutoStrop spokesman was said to have replied: “But, gentlemen, I have a patent on your product!”

What is the difference in brush hair grades: All shaving brushes will provide a lathery shave. However there are several different and distinct grades that determine price and performance. Information in parenthesis is to help clarify our understanding of the various terms used in the marketplace. Please understand there is no universal standard and bristle grading can be subjective.

A)   Synthetic bristles - Come in a faux boar nylon bristle or a faux badger synthetic fiber bristle and are alternatives to natural hair for making lather.

B)   Hog bristles “boar” (aka pure bristle, white or sketched) – Stronger and thicker than badger hair. These bristles are not as flexible as the badger. When water comes into the hog-bristles they are not as elastic as badger hair and the user cannot make the shaving soap as creamy as he could do with a badger brush.  That’s why hog bristles are the least expensive class.

C)  Standard Badger “dark solids” (aka dark badger) – This kind of hair is the under-hair of the badger. It is not as elastic as tapers for example. But it keeps it’s flexibility much better than hog bristles. This hair is dark (nearly black) and has a cylindrical structure. That means each hair is the same thickness at both ends. They are typically machine clipped to shape unless noted otherwise.

D)    Standard Badger “greys” (aka pure or grey badger) – This explanation is used for the hair from the tails and the back of the badger which has nearly the same structure as dark solids although it is from the upper-hair. This hair is more light than dark solids – nearly grey. They are typically machine clipped to shape unless noted otherwise.

E)    Premium Badger “tapers” (aka fine or best badger) – This hair has the typical sketch on it (light-dark-light). It comes from the back of the badger and its structure is conical. That means that the tips are thinner than at the base of the hairs. This provides a softer feel while in use. Moreover it guarantees better foaming of the shaving soap. This hair is much more expensive because it is more rare than the types c) or d). These brushes are hand assembled or handmade.

F)    Premium Badger “silver tips” (aka super badger) – This explanation is used for the neck hair only which is the softest, rarest and most expensive kind of badger hair. In the winter this neck hair gets extremely light tips. These brushes are hand assembled or handmade.

Invention

The first safety razor was invented in the late 18th century by a Frenchman, Jean-Jacques Perret, who was inspired by the joiner’s plane. An expert on the subject, he also wrote a book called Pogonotomy or the Art of Learning to Shave Oneself. In the late 1820s, a similar razor was made in Sheffield, England, and from the 1870s, a single-edge blade, mounted on a hoe-shaped handle, was available in Britain and Germany. One of the rarest European razors was made by “Comfort” and, while this was not a true safety razor, it remains a landmark in razor design. None of these razors are considered to be true safety razors.

Described as a razor where “a small blade is held in a suitable frame and provided with a guard to prevent the edge of the razor from cutting into the skin”, the first American safety razor was patented in 1880 by the Kampfe Brothers.^[1] The new razor featured a wire-skin guard along the razor’s edge. Only one side of the actual blade is used to shave, and it must be removed often for sharpening.

Gillette innovation

A modern double-edged safety razor

In 1901, the American inventor King Camp Gillette, with the assistance of William Nickerson, invented a safety razor with disposable blades. Gillette realized that a profit could be made by selling an inexpensive razor and generating a market for disposable blades. This has been called the Razor and blades business model, or a “loss leader“, and has become a very common practice for a wide variety of products.To realize his idea, Gillette applied for a patent on December 3, 1901, and was awarded US patent #775,134 on November 15, 1904.^[2][3]

In 1902, Gillette manufactured its first razor and began its climb with total sales of 51 razors and 168 blades. In 1904, sales skyrocketed with total sales for the new safety razor reaching 90,000 razors and 123,000 blades. Gillette’s particular innovation of safety razors with disposable blades beat out competitors. Gillette’s thin blade was covered by the razor housing, thus protecting the skin against deep cuts. This enabled the majority of people to shave themselves safely for the first time. Before this, shaving was done often only by family members or barbers. Other razor manufacturers—such as Wilkinson, Ever-Ready, and Valet—produced similar safety razors but with resharpenable blades. These used a new version of the old leather strop or a stropping machine which the blade was passed through.

World War I

During World War I, Gillette worked out a deal with the U.S. Armed Forces which provided Gillette safety razors and blades to every enlisted man or officer on their way to Europe as a regular part of their standard-issue gear. By the end of the war, some 3.5 million razors and 32 million blades were put into military hands, thereby converting an entire nation of men to the Gillette safety razor.

Switch to stainless steel

Gillette manufactured carbon steel blades up until the 1960s. These rusted quickly and required the user to change blades frequently. In 1965 the British companyWilkinson Sword began to sell blades made of stainless steel, which did not rust and could be used repeatedly until blunt. Wilkinson quickly captured the British and European markets, and Gillette was forced to switch its production lines to stainless steel to compete. Today the great majority of razor blades are made of stainless steel. The older Carbon Steel type blade is still available today and has come a long way since the invention of the stainless steel blade. The typical modern Carbon Steel blade does not rust if it is rinsed in alcohol after each shave. Since Gillette held the patent for the stainless blades but had not acted on it, they were accused of exploiting customers by forcing them to buy the rust-prone blade.^[4]

These videos will help you to understand the differences and benefits of using a safety razor over modern multi-blade razors.

Videos posted on BetterShaving.com are linked in from Youtube.  This video was not produced by bettershaving. Videos are posted as a service to new shavers.

If your thinking about getting started with a safety razor you are probably asking yourself where do I get started and what do I need. This article will show you what you need and how to use these items. We recommend watching the videos

So first things first. You will need these items to get started.

1. A Double Edge Safety Razor
2. Double Edge Blades
3. A glycerin based soap
4. A badger hair brush
5. A stand to dry your brush
6. Styptic Pencil or Liquid

A basic safety razor will do. Some safety razors can be adjusted with a dial to change the angle of the blade. Simply unscrew the base of the handle and the top will open. Insert a blade and close the top.

Always shave after a shower. The hot water opens your pours and softens the whiskers. Wet shaving with any razor is all about water. The water is the buffer between your skin and the blade. Wet the badger hair brush and rotate it around the soap until the end is saturated with soap. What you are trying to do is create a thick lather. This lather is heavily saturated and will create that buffer you need for a smooth shave.

Next brush the lather onto your face. The bristles of the brush will lift your hairs and the advantage of the badger hair is that it will help keep everything wet.  For this reason stay away from boar hair brushes.  Put your brush down, but do not rinse at this point. You will need to use it again.

Now it’s time to shave. Take is very slow. The key is to achieve a 30 degree angle between your face and blade and to NOT USE ANY PRESSURE AT ALL! With a modern multi blade cartridge, plastic protects you from getting too close to your face. People tend to press these types of razors into their face to achieve a close shave.  Pressure is not requried for a DE blade to cut.  These DE blades are sharp and you will need to take it slow and use short strokes while maintaining the angle. Do not be worried about getting all the hair off in one stroke. Safety razor shaving requires 2 or 3 passes in different directions while lathering between shaves.

For your first pass always shave in the direction the hair grows. For the second pass shave across and for the third you can shave up if required. Only shave up if your skin can handle it and you have a week or two of experience. In the beginning take it very slow and just do 1 or 2 passes in the direction that the hair grows.

After shaving wash your face with cold water. This will close the pours. We strongly recommend a cream based after shave to finish off. After a few weeks you can expect your shaving time to be no more than 8 minutes.

Unlearning the cartridge way of shaving will take some time. Don’t be surprised or discouraged if you get a few nicks the first week or two. Remember to take it slow and gentle and you will soon be shaving like a pro. In the end the results will be worth it. You will get as close a shave as possible at home and the cost of this new equipment will be offset by not having to spend high prices for cartridges.

This video will show how the Merkur Futur Double Edge adjustable safety razor works.

Over the past few weeks I decided to part with my Merkur razor and go back to other methods of shaving.  Why I did this I’m not quite sure, but in the end it turned out to be and interesting experiment.  Failed experiment to be exact.

I pulled out my old Braun Electric.  I wanted the best experience I could so I went to Walmart and picked up new cutters.  Charged it up and put a good 2 weeks into the test.  I actually like the experience of shaving with an electric. Not the rotary kind.  The rotary pulls hairs instead of cutting them. The foil is much better because it sheers the hairs off.  But in the end the problem with these razors is their inability to fully trim neck hair.  I ended up going over the same spots every shave trying to get the flat hairs.  After 2 weeks my neck was pretty beat up and I started getting ingrown hairs along the jaw line and to the left and right of my adams apple.

If that wasn’t punishment enough I pulled out the old Gillette 5 blade.  Again using a new cartridge.  I shaved one time with King of Shaves gel and realized that wasn’t going to work.  I had always been told that the most important part of a good shave was not really the razor but the brush and shaving soap.  So I decided to use my old shaving soap and brush with the Gillette multi blade.  The end result was a poor shave and again lots of ingrown hairs.  This was even worse than the electric.

What is simply amazing is that after switching back to my Merkur Futur my face was healed and back to normal within 3 shaves.

I learned my lesson the hard way.